Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
I enjoy learning how to cook because I like to eat. Eating is good. Eating is fun.Collection: Learning
Man, I was a troubled kid. I was going to get kicked out of a Christian school and got sent to military school for a year and a half, and I didn't really have much direction until I got the opportunity to drive race cars.Collection: Car
Orange is my favorite color overall.
'Castaway' is my favorite movie, and any time I read about a castaway or a story like that, it just interests me a lot.
I just Google whatever the hell I want to cook, and I try to cook it by what they tell me to do. If it's not good, I don't eat it.
I've always felt like a lot of people's misconceptions of me have to do with how I grew up. I grew up poor, and I grew up rich.
I keep sour grapes in the fridge all the time. And I eat those all day long, all week long, all month. All the time.
Every sport has a 'guy' that personifies what the sport is about and almost creates what the sport is on his own.
Regardless of how I act, somebody is going to criticize me one way or the other.
In my eyes, Joe Gibbs could do no wrong.
I always think about my dad. He's always in the back of my mind. That helps me make good decisions. It has an influence on my life in every decision and everything I do.
I didn't start driving race cars because of the fame or the money, but the most rewarding factor is being complimented on what you do, and your fans are always the first to do that.
I'm not a huge fan of North Carolina barbecue. I like Memphis style barbecue and Kansas City.
Death is a weird thing.
I just didn't look at myself with a lot of confidence. I didn't think, 'Man I'm a great driver. Boy, just give me a shot.'
Nothing will ever feel like winning a Daytona 500. I'm never going to do anything in broadcasting, probably anything in any other professional job that will feel like winning the Daytona 500.
I've never wished I was anybody else.
That's one thing that frustrates me is to hear people today say I don't have passion; my heart's not in it. Man, what the hell? You can't go to 38 races in 42 weeks with your heart out of it.
I always make things worse than they are or create problems that aren't there. And going and doing some simple task becomes a problem. I start imagining problems that aren't there. What people are going to think, who's going to judge me and am I going to be good enough? Am I worthy?
I'm sure it's the same whether you lost your parent at 25 or 45. When they die, the responsibility to do right by them and honor them becomes more important to you, because they're not here to tell you, 'Hey man, don't be doing that,' or, 'Yeah, you're making me proud, or you're not.'
There is nothing like winning a race.
I was in therapy as a child and definitely think that therapy is a very useful tool.
Oh yeah, I've been in therapy in and out of my whole life.
I get asked one question a lot: 'What celebrity encounter would render you starstruck?' The answer is simple - anyone who's ever strapped on a Redskins helmet, much less coached them to three Super Bowls.
My role models weren't holding steering wheels and mashing gears on Sunday. They wore burgundy and gold with names like Art Monk and Darrell Green.
I've always wanted to win a championship so badly.
My habit is to get real competitive and make racing probably more work than it is enjoyable, and I put a lot of pressure on myself, and I feel like there's pressure from the outside - it's probably not real, but it's something I imagine.
I can't remember ever racing without any pressure.
I grew up around it. That was what my friends were listening to - some of my closest friends are big hip-hop fans.
As a race car driver, you kind of get stereotyped into, 'Man, you like country' - or you got to say you like country. I do like a lot of country. But I'm all over the board.
Normally, on the rare chance that a celebrity comes to my property, I get real nervous.
My grandmother was a big Elvis fan, and I am, too, because she played Elvis, and she would keep me all the time when my dad was out of town.
There was this guy I used to work with, and he listened to Patsy Cline all the time, so I liked that after a while.
Some people ain't approachable, and some people are.
People get surprised when they see you out buying a DVD at Best Buy like somebody else should be doing it for you or something! They're like, 'What are you doing your grocery shopping for?' Well, 'cause I'm starving!
I hate disappointing people and letting people down.
I went from thinking, 'I wonder if I can be a broadcaster. Will anybody give me a chance? Maybe I can get a shot at it,' to thinking, 'Man, I want to do this for a long time.'
I've done everything I ever thought I would do. I've done more than I thought I was capable of doing.
I look at my trophies and can't believe they're mine.
There's broadcasters that make me enjoy what I'm seeing because of their energy and how they explain what's happening and paint that picture.
As a driver, it was easy to find the negative in things. But when I got out of the car, everything about the sport, my whole perception of just about everything in the sport, did a 180.
The 1979 Daytona 500 was awesome. It was almost like the first race that Ken Squier ever did. And so he was sort of introducing himself as well as the sport.
I didn't think I was ever going to be a Cup driver. When I was a kid, before I started racing in the Xfinity Series, I thought that I was never going to get a chance, and then, if I did, I wasn't going to run well enough to maintain that opportunity and keep progressing.
I've been able to make a lot of money and live a lifestyle that I never dreamed of. And I've been able to provide for my family.
I never thought I would ever win a Daytona 500. I never thought we would sweep Bristol. I just never thought any of that stuff was going to happen or be possible.
To me, I feel completely, um, utterly normal. I do everything everybody else does.
I'm competitive, man. Competitive.
I can cook anything. Anything. I'm good.
If I don't like the car, I don't get excited about racing it.
I don't know of any other driver on the track that doesn't get hot under the collar.